College-aged clothes

In today's installment of "The Clothing Project" we reach back in time to my college days. The jeans you see to the left were purchased when I was in college so many years ago. They are Levi's 560s, waist 34, length 30. One reason that I have been able to wear these jeans for so many years is that when I bought them I didn't need a 34 inch waist and thankfully I don't absolutely need the 34 inches now . . . but I admit that I'm getting closer to that reality.

As you can see, these jeans are pretty old and stained. There are paint stains up and down from several bedroom painting sessions, as well as grass stains on the knee from working in the yard at various times. The denim patch on the right (stage left) knee is a recent addition, covering an ever expanding rip that I finally decided to deal with a few weeks ago.

These jeans don't see any "formal" wear anymore, just bumming around the house and dirty work in the yard and such. But, they have that comfort that is best in jeans that are old and worn. I won't get rid of them for a while, I guess.

The shirt can be dated specifically to a purchase of October 1996. I remember this because Lynda and I were house-sitting for a graduate school professor that attended our church back in Statesboro, Georgia. We lived in his two-story house for several months while he and his wife were in England doing research on some medieval history topic or something. I remember buying that navy blue Land End long sleeve polo during October. It was around my birthday and the Braves were in the baseball playoffs again. (The team had actually won the year before, but I had missed the clinching game, spending it with Lynda and my sister as we took a night-time ghost tour of Savannah.)

So, I was determined to watch them win again in October 1996. I remember that the Braves were the strong favorite in the postseason that year and they made it back to the World Series to play the upstart New York Yankees. The Yankees had made it into the postseason the previous year (the first year with the Wild Card?) but had been beaten in the Division Series by the Seattle Mariners in a thrilling game 5. But in 1996, the Yankees (in Joe Torre's second year as manager?) made it all the way to the World Series.

The Braves won the first two games in Atlanta and seemed ready to sweep to their second straight World Series win. But in what became an all too familiar trend over the next five or six years, the Yankees fought back in Yankee Stadium, getting unexpected home runs from nobodies like Jim Leyritz. Sure enough, the Yankees came storming back and won the Series that year, beginning their run of success that is only now--twelve years later--beginning to (hopefully?!) come to a close.

So, I do have some rather specific memories about that shirt at least, though nothing that directly relates to wearing it.